Nghe An: Vinh orange area destroyed nearly 500 hectares due to pests and drought

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hoan in Minh Ho hamlet, Minh Hop commune, cuts down diseased orange trees. Photo: Quang An

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hoan, owner of an orange garden in Minh Ho hamlet, Minh Hop commune (Quy Hop) said: His family has 3 hectares of oranges in the business stage, from 4 to 10 years old. However, due to pests and diseases, combined with prolonged drought, 1 hectare cannot be cared for, so they have to destroy it and switch to growing corn.

The remaining 2 hectares, although the family tried to take care of them, produced few fruits, and the fruits were smaller than previous years. It is expected that Mr. Hoan's 2 hectares of oranges will harvest about 15 - 20 tons of fruit this year, while in previous years the harvest was 20 tons/ha.

Mr. Phan Van Manh's orange garden in Minh Tam hamlet, Minh Hop commune had to cut down many trees due to pests and drought. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Along the main roads of the Vinh orange growing area in Minh Hop commune, many orange gardens have been cut down and dug up. Mr. Phan Van Manh in Minh Tam hamlet, Minh Hop commune said: His family had 1.2 hectares of orange trees in the business phase, but recently the family had to cut down half of them because pests and prolonged drought caused the trees to dry out and not produce fruit. This year, Mr. Manh's family lost money from the orange garden.

Some orange gardens bear fruit early, however, due to prolonged drought, the fruit is dry and damaged. Photo: Quang An

According to Mr. Le Viet Minh - Xuan Thanh Company Limited, in the first months of 2019, the unit's orange growing area had to be cut down about 140 hectares, and it is expected that in the coming time, about 150 hectares will be cut down due to drought and pests.

The survey shows that this year the orange crop is low, so the unit's expected orange output this year is only about 4,000 tons, half that of last year.

Recently, the orange growing area in the district had about 500 hectares of oranges in the commercial stage cut down, due to pests and prolonged drought, causing the orange trees to wither and not be able to recover. Of these, the orange area in Minh Hop commune was cut down the most.

Mr. Quan Vi Giang - Head of Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quy Hop district

After cutting down the orange orchards, people switched to other short-term crops. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Thus, the area of ​​oranges for business in Quy Hop this season has decreased to only 1,400 hectares, meaning that this year's Vinh orange season's output will decrease, due to the reduced area and the orange trees bearing less fruit, due to the effects of drought.